Research Article

COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY

Volume: 17 July 22, 2026
TR EN

COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY

Abstract

This study examines, through a semiotic lens, how the May 27, 1960 military coup was represented in mainstream newspaper opinion columns and how political legitimacy was produced in the name of democracy. Nine columns published on May 27–28 (and on May 31 in Hürriyet) in Hürriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, and Akşam are analyzed using Roland Barthes’s concepts of denotation, connotation, and myth. The analysis demonstrates that these texts construct the coup as an “extraordinary yet necessary” intervention and build a “myth of rescue” through signifiers such as “democracy,” “nation,” “freedom,” “law,” “youth,” and “Atatürk.” Within this discourse, the military is transformed into a neutral and constituent subject, while the Democrat Party government is coded as the agent of “deviation” or “degeneration.” Consequently, the coup is naturalized and legitimized through narratives of “punishment,” “purification,” and “new beginning”. Themes such as the “constituent assembly,” “normalization,” and “re-foundation” present the coup as a temporary “bridge,” thereby reinforcing consent, while binary oppositions (order/chaos, law/oppression, nation/government, youth/authority) are repeatedly circulated. The findings suggest that this discursive template provided

Keywords

1960 Coup, Democracy, Newspaper Columns, Semiotic, Myth

Ethical Statement

This study is based solely on the analysis of publicly available archival sources and previously published newspaper articles. The research does not involve human participants, personal data, surveys, interviews, or any experimental procedures. Therefore, ethics committee approval and informed consent are not required for this study.

References

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APA
Bozdoğan, S., & Sarıkaya, M. Z. (2026). COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY. Journal of Academic Approaches, 17, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1858855
AMA
1.Bozdoğan S, Sarıkaya MZ. COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY. JAA. 2026;17:1-16. doi:10.54688/ayd.1858855
Chicago
Bozdoğan, Selim, and Mehmet Zakir Sarıkaya. 2026. “COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY”. Journal of Academic Approaches 17 (July): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1858855.
EndNote
Bozdoğan S, Sarıkaya MZ (July 1, 2026) COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY. Journal of Academic Approaches 17 1–16.
IEEE
[1]S. Bozdoğan and M. Z. Sarıkaya, “COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY”, JAA, vol. 17, pp. 1–16, July 2026, doi: 10.54688/ayd.1858855.
ISNAD
Bozdoğan, Selim - Sarıkaya, Mehmet Zakir. “COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY”. Journal of Academic Approaches 17 (July 1, 2026): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1858855.
JAMA
1.Bozdoğan S, Sarıkaya MZ. COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY. JAA. 2026;17:1–16.
MLA
Bozdoğan, Selim, and Mehmet Zakir Sarıkaya. “COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY”. Journal of Academic Approaches, vol. 17, July 2026, pp. 1-16, doi:10.54688/ayd.1858855.
Vancouver
1.Selim Bozdoğan, Mehmet Zakir Sarıkaya. COUP IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY: MAY 27, 1960 AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LEGITIMACY. JAA. 2026 Jul. 1;17:1-16. doi:10.54688/ayd.1858855